Meta faces R22m penalty over claims of Brazil election interference - IOL

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused Meta of algorithmic bias favouring his election rival, allegations that led to a court investigation and a R22 million fine.

Brazil's electoral court has fined social media giant Meta 7.5 million reais (about R22 million) for failing to comply with court orders during an investigation into allegations that its algorithms favoured one presidential candidate over another in the country's latest election.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had accused Meta of favouring his rival Flávio Bolsonaro through its algorithms ahead of the October 25 presidential runoff, which Lula unexpectedly won despite finishing second in the first round.

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) unanimously imposed the penalty on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, saying the company had missed deadlines and failed to provide sufficient transparency during the investigation.

However, the court's reporting judge, Marco Aurélio, said the judicial body had found no evidence of any "deliberate action to skew the election".

Meta denied the accusations but acknowledged that some of Lula's campaign advertisements had been mistakenly deactivated because of technical errors.

"We are going to have to regulate them," Lula said of social media companies following his electoral victory.

After refusing to acknowledge his defeat in the runoff, Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States amid an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering.